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Introduction
The public sector is increasingly operating in an environment defined by marketing principles and directed by business forces. This means that, to a certain extent, the public sector has to grapple with converting private sector best practices into public sector practice. This is why many in the public sector have turned to external consultants ([11] The Economist, 1995 ; [7] Corcoran and McLean, 1998).
Consultants have been described as having a significant influence within the transformation of the public sector for the last few decades ([39] Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2000; [29] Lapsley and Oldfield, 2001). It is indeed true that decision-makers in many countries significantly increased their use of private sector consulting services in reforming the management structures and processes of most Western states ([43] Saint-Martin, 1998).
Most of the existing literature on procurement of professional services by the public sector emphasizes the key role and the level of power that consultants possess ([4] Bloomfield and Danieli, 1995; [7] Corcoran and McLean, 1998; [43] Saint-Martin, 1998). It is widely recognized that management consultants have been important players in the reforms in a number of countries ([38] Pollitt, 2001). "Consultocracy" has been used to describe the growing power of consultants ([43] Saint-Martin, 1998). They have been referred to as "the shadow government in the US" ([20] Guttman and Willner, 1976). And [43] Saint-Martin (1998) investigated how it has been possible for them to have such a major influence on public sector reform and policy in the UK and Canada.
The borders between the public and the private sectors, and the way they purchase, are becoming more blurred. And while some may argue that private sector and public sector purchasing is becoming increasingly similar ([31] Marshall and Humby, 1998), empirical evidence to justify such generalizations has not been provided. In fact, recent research has highlighted the existence of important differences between public and private sector procurement practices ([30] Lian and Laing, 2004).
It is clear that much is still not known about the role of management consultants in the public sector. Much outsourcing of advice in the public sector may be ideologically driven. However, whether the public sector needs outside advice or not, is not questioned in the paper. Fact is that evidence suggests that the...